January 2012 Speaker

Our January speaker will be Ms Rebecca Bolt, Wildlife Ecologist at
Kennedy Space Center. Becky holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in
Biological Sciences from the University of Central Florida, and has
twenty-six years of experience working with wildlife on the Kennedy
Space Center (KSC). She is employed by InoMedic Health
Applications, supporting NASA’s Environmental Division. She
conducts monitoring and research to determine the effects of KSC
operations on a wide variety of habitats and wildlife species. Her
objective is to help project managers avoid and minimize those impacts,
and to establish appropriate mitigation when impacts cannot be avoided.
Becky also confers with governmental agencies and private groups
regarding wildlife issues, writes Environmental Impact Statements,
Environmental Assessments, and other NEPA documentation, and is author
or co-author on more than 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications. She
is a member of the Gopher Tortoise Council and is Conservation
Committee chairperson of the Florida Chapter of The Wildlife Society.
Becky lives in Cocoa, has two adult daughters, and is totally
captivated by her two-year-old granddaughter.

Becky’s subject will be Florida Land Turtles. Florida is home to
two species, the box turtle and the gopher tortoise. These animals
might appear to be similar in many ways, but they are actually quite
different. Box turtles occur throughout the state and are considered to
be common. Box turtles are generalists in habitat and can be found
anywhere from wet hammocks to dry, grassy fields. They also eat a wide
variety of foods, being strictly carnivorous when young, but adding
more plants to their diet as they grow older. In contrast, gopher
tortoises once occurred in all parts of Florida, but populations have
been extirpated from many areas and they are state-listed as
Threatened. Gopher tortoises are restricted to high, dry habitats and
live in burrows. They are a keystone species because over 300
invertebrate and vertebrate animals have been documented using their
burrows. Gopher tortoises are herbivorous all of their lives. Box
turtle and gopher tortoise populations in Florida face many of the same
threats, including habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, road mortality,
and disease. Come join us to learn about these fascinating animals and
get ideas and information on how you can help keep them alive and well
in Florida.